


Fire, Song and a Snowstorm

by AriaSaeryen



Series: Avatar: Tales of the Songstresses [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-13
Updated: 2017-07-03
Packaged: 2018-04-04 05:55:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 10,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4127491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AriaSaeryen/pseuds/AriaSaeryen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is the story of Elsi, a firebender of mixed parentage, and Mihoshi, an earthbender who can sing and play the liuqin. Elsi and Mihoshi are two girls who have been good friends their whole lives, and are starting to develop romantic feelings for one another. Then, suddenly, a mysterious turn of events takes place. A section of forest is blocked by branches that have been frozen together. Elsi, Mihoshi, and Mihoshi's sister Leyka discover that within the frozen forest is Aira, a girl cursed to have skin of ice and freeze everything she touches. Behind Aira's curse is the evil Kaligah, who can bend frozen water using an artifact of her own making, and is creating an army out of ice. It is up to Elsi and Mihoshi to save Aira and the others cursed like her, and possibly the entire Earth Kingdom, from the frozen-hearted Kaligah. Canon-compliant, but OC-centric. Canon characters exist but do not appear.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_She did not stop running. She could not. She had to get out of there, out of the ice fortress where she was being held. She didn't care that her feet were making visible marks in the snow – if she could make it, it wouldn't matter._

_Then the wall of ice appeared before her._

_This was it. There was no way she could escape now._

_There was no sun here, or blue sky. Only thick snowstorm clouds conjured by a stolen power. That was where she and the others were imprisoned. A world without warmth, or new company, or anything other than the ice and snow covering everything._

_Was this her fate?_

* * *

 

A girl groaned as the morning sunlight poked through her window, shining on her face. She wrapped herself tightly in a red blanket and rolled over into her pillow, hoping she wouldn't be wakened...not just yet.

"Elsi!"

A clear voice rang out from the other side of her bedroom door. Slowly, Elsi pulled herself up and off the bed.

"What?" she said sleepily.

"It's snowing, it's snowing! We have to go outside!"

Elsi opened the window curtain. It was indeed snowing. It was one of those rare snows where one could see the sun while the sky made ice crystals.

She slumped toward her small mirror and began to comb the snags out of her dark brown hair, while her reflection's golden eyes stared back at her.

Soon, Elsi was out of her night gown and in a pale yellow day robe with green trim. She walked out of the small house where she lived with her aunt and found who had called to her.

Mihoshi, Elsi's childhood friend, was standing in the snow. It wasn't very deep yet; one could still see the grass tips poking out of the white. As usual, Mihoshi's dark orange hair was in a single, tight braid, and she wore her favored color of mint green, which Elsi thought nicely complimented her dark brown eyes.

"Good morning!" Mihoshi said.

"Good morning yourself," Elsi replied.

Suddenly, Elsi felt something small, wet and cold hit her in the back. She turned to see Leyka, Mihoshi's dark haired younger sister, hiding her hands behind her back and trying, in vain, to form an innocent smile.

"Did you throw a snowball at me?" Elsi asked, smiling back.

"Well..." Leyka replied.

Elsi nodded knowingly at Leyka.

"Yes!" Leyka yelled excitedly as she threw another small snowball at Elsi. Elsi, however, was prepared this time. Almost as quickly as Leyka had thrown the snowball, Elsi sent a blast of fire in its trajectory, melting it before it could find its target.

Elsi was a firebender, but only a select few knew it.

Elsi lived in a small village in the Earth Kingdom, called Midori, stationed in the middle of a forest. She had been raised by Meimu, her aunt, because her parents had been killed by the Fire Nation Army. Her father, Keden, had once been a Fire Nation soldier. Forced into that role, he had longed for a way out. And one day, when his fleet touched a particular shore, he met Miri, a common woman from the Earth Kingdom. Keden had left the army and started a life with her, but a week after Elsi had been born to them, the army had found Keden and killed him and Miri for what they saw as an act of treason.

Elsi, however, had escaped, as Miri had been wise enough to hide her under a shrub outdoors. The next day, Miri's sister Meimu heard the terrible news. Knowing where they had been hiding, she found Elsi and ever since then had been raising her as her own.

It was how she had met Mihoshi. Meimu lived next door to Maya, an old friend of herself and Miri. Maya had a husband, Han, and a daughter, Mihoshi. From an early age Elsi and Mihoshi had been the best of friends.

When it was revealed Elsi had inherited her father's firebending, she had been warned to speak of it to no one other than Mihoshi and her family, who already knew the identity of Elsi's father. Meimu knew that, with the war still going on, firebenders were seen as an enemy, and Elsi, if found out, would be an outcast. Worse, if any Fire Nation soldiers found out, they might capture or kill her because she was Keden's daughter.

Fortunately for Elsi, she wasn't the type to concern herself with anything outside of her own world. Oh, she was cautious. She kept herself a secret from strangers, and she was certainly not happy with what the Fire Nation was doing in the Earth Kingdom. But she felt fortunate. An orphan she may have been, but as far as she was concerned, she had a family. She had her aunt who loved her, and Mihoshi and Leyka and Han and Maya – and Liu, who was at that moment flying headfirst into a snowman she and Mihoshi were building.

 _Splat! –_ The little brown striped cat bearing the wings of a swan rammed into the large snowball, getting stuck in it, and in the process causing the snowball to roll off of the snowman-to-be's bottom portion. As it landed, so did Liu, who at once sat up as soon as the snow broke. She shook the snow off of her head.

"Liu!" Mihoshi laughed, picking up her quinn, for "quinn" was what the cats with the swan wings were known as. Liu purred at Mihoshi's touch.

"Who's a pretty quinn?" Elsi cooed as she scratched Liu's head. Liu purred some more.

The rest of that day was spent redoing the first snowman and building many more, some with cat ears, some with snowballs in their stick hands, and some with their arms positioned as though they were performing a song. In between that were more snowball fights. Despite Elsi's secret weapon, she couldn't always evade Leyka, who fancied herself a "snowbender." Even Mihoshi, an earthbender, couldn't always put up a wall of icy soil in time to block Leyka. Leyka, of course, had her own strategies. She was an expert at ducking snowballs and at jumping over them at just the right time.

* * *

 

_And as the moon rose, it became clear to the one with the frozen heart that if she was to succeed, her fortress had to be hidden from all outsiders. She knew there was a small forest village nearby...anyone could slip in and find it. The trees that surrounded her land would have to block it off...somehow..._


	2. Chapter 2

A velvety dark blue-gray covered the skies over Midori as Elsi, Mihoshi and Leyka retreated from the outdoors, where it was still snowing. Night had fallen, and the cloud cover guaranteed more snow to come.

Liu the quinn napped in a corner near the fireplace, for which Elsi quickly provided flames. At that same moment, Liu rolled sleepily over and snored.

"I can't believe you tried to make a snow fort," Mihoshi laughed. "I honestly thought snow feared you, Els."

Elsi giggled in reply.

"Leyka's too good for either of us to outsmart her, you know that, Mi'shi," she said. Leyka looked at the two of them with a triumphant, slightly haughty face.

"Don't think you've won the whole winter," Elsi said to Leyka. "Mihoshi is right, snow does fear me—"

"Unless I'm the girl behind the snow!" Leyka shouted back.

Just then, the wind whistled and one of the windows came open. Immediately, plentiful cold air swooped in, putting out the fire and bringing with it some snow, which at that moment did not seem very frightened of Elsi or anyone else.

Mihoshi went to the door and opened it.

"Whoa!" she said. "There's quite a blizzard out here!"

Elsi and Leyka rushed to the door to take a look. Mihoshi was right; the grass that had been poking out that morning was completely covered, as were the roots of the many trees that interspersed with their village. The lowest steps of both Elsi and Mihoshi's porch stairways were also blanketed in white cold.

"I should go back," Mihoshi said. "Mama and Papa will be worried if I stay out in a big storm too long."

She grabbed Leyka's wrist and started to walk through the ever-piling snow to the house next door. Elsi could still hear Leyka's protests after she closed the door.

Elsi tried many times to relight the fire and close the window, but it couldn't be helped. This blizzard was unusually strong.

A little too strong...

She looked over into her aunt's room. Meimu was sitting in a chair with a now flameless candle, trying to read a book without light.

Elsi decided it was safe to slip out.

As she stepped outside, she discovered her suspicions were true: there was no way this could be a normal blizzard, even in winters like this. She felt as though her whole body was being pushed by the cold wind, away from a certain point. She looked in the direction from which the wind was trying to keep her and saw, to her shock and somewhat terror, that solid ice was creeping up a cluster of trees.

Elsi pushed against the wind towards the trees. As she did so, she discovered that it wasn't the wind that was doing this – _it was the snow_.

The snowflakes were flying at her and pushing against her. They were not going down, as snow normally did – they were flying in all directions from that point outward. Something was forcing them away so much that they were unstoppably piling into houses. It had to be an outside force, because snow couldn't have secrets or vendettas – could it?

Nevertheless, Elsi pressed on against the snow, and as she drew nearer, the pressure lifted. Oh, the winds were still strong and relentless, but the snow was no longer being pushed away. Now, as typical of a blizzard, it had no discernable way to go. Elsi noticed Midori residents closing their windows successfully at long last.

When she was sure she was far away from any group of houses, Elsi lit a small flame in her hand to be her light. She approached the spot the snow had forbidden anyone access to and yelped.

A large cluster of broken tree branches and briars was stacked high up, much taller than any person, between two trees. The whole thing, and its tree neighbors, were covered entirely in solid ice. Elsi kicked it, but the ice was very hard. The trees surrounding the area were extremely close together, close enough for thick walls of ice to be between them.

She walked in a circle around the particular area of Midori Forest, only to find that all the trees and everything in between was covered in ice. An entire section of forest had been cut off. Why?


	3. Chapter 3

            The next day, Elsi awoke, still feeling cold from the excursion she had taken the night before. Mihoshi and Leyka had to know what was going on, if indeed the forest was still frozen.

            It was no longer snowing, but there were clouds in the sky and no grass could be seen. The entire ground was covered in four inches of snow.

            Elsi couldn’t quite remember where it was. She had pushed against the snow last night, but today it all looked different. Trees one after another, all looking the same. Clearings with houses interspersed between them. The place she sought she knew to be in the deep forest where no people lived, but she couldn’t even seem to find a way out of the village.

            “Elsi? What are you doing?”

            It was Leyka.

            “Oh! Leyka! Hi, hello. I was…um…”

            “Mihoshi’s been looking for you,” Leyka interrupted. “Why are you wandering around?”

            Elsi approached Leyka and got down on her knees.

            “Listen,” she said quietly. “I found something very strange, but you can’t say a word to anyone but Mihoshi.”

            Leyka nodded, her eyes wide with curiosity.

            “Deep in the forest there’s a place that’s trapped in ice. All the trees are frozen together. I think someone’s hiding something there.”

            Leyka’s blank expression quickly turned upward into a wide grin.

            “Yes, I will take you there _if_ I am able to find it,” Elsi replied, sighing as she spoke the last bit.

            Leyka ran off toward the clearing where her and Elsi’s homes were.

            “Mihoshi!” she cried. “Mihoshi!”

~

            “So last night, you think the _snow_ was pushing against you?” Mihoshi asked Elsi.

            “Exactly,” Elsi said as she, Mihoshi and Leyka entered the northern forest. “It didn’t feel like air at all. It felt like tiny, cold…things…that were pushing me away from there.”

            “Things?” Mihoshi asked.

            “What else would you call them? Frozen ant-flies?”

            “Look!” Leyka shouted suddenly.

            The two of them turned to where she was pointing. Among stark, leafless tress and a few evergreens was a wall of ice the color of the summer sky.

            “I don’t like the look of this,” Mihoshi muttered, approaching the wall.

            Elsi gasped.

            “Wait!” she said, running after Mihoshi with Leyka following.

            Mihoshi took a look at the wall. The ice encased adjacent tree trunks for up to at least twelve feet, and in between those trunks the ice was thick and strong. Mihoshi kicked a part of the wall between the tree trunks five times, but the ice did not even crack.

            “Give it up,” said Elsi. “That stuff is harder than metal.”

            “Strange…” Mihoshi murmured, not listening. She began to walk to the right, following the circle the wall made.

            Then, she reached the first part of the barrier Elsi had seen.

            “Whoa,” said Mihoshi. Elsi and Leyka agreed; their eyes widened as they saw the barrier in daylight.

            The briars and tree branches could be clearly seen through the ice. With the ice holding them in place, some of them looked as though they were suspended in midair.

            “Let’s go!” Mihoshi whispered in excitement.

            “Let’s go?” Elsi said. “We don’t know what’s beyond there! Besides, how could we even get in? The whole place is blocked by ice!”

            Mihoshi and Leyka both looked at Elsi.

            “What?” Elsi said.

            “You can break it,” replied Mihoshi.

            “How… _oh_.”

            “But,” Elsi continued, “I can’t firebend here! What if I get caught? Besides, what if something really really bad is behind there?”

            “No one’s here!” Leyka said. “It’s just us!”

            Elsi looked at Leyka’s excited face, then she turned to Mihoshi.

            Suddenly, something sparked inside Elsi. There was just something about Mihoshi. Something about how happy and bright-eyed she looked. Something about how Elsi didn’t feel right letting her down.

            “Okay,” she said. “Stand back.”

            Mihoshi and Leyka backed away from the ice wall, and Elsi shot a stream of orange fire into the middle of it.

            The wall began to turn slowly into water, then into steam. A hole appeared in it, and it expanded, letting loose briars and branches. After a few minutes, the ice wall had been split in two – there was a gap in the middle of it, marked by wood sitting in a puddle of water.

            Mihoshi stepped through and beckoned Elsi and Leyka.


	4. Chapter 4

            It was a completely different world.

            The snow that Mihoshi, Elsi and Leyka now stepped on wasn’t powdery in any way. It was hard and packed, so much that each step a girl made created a crunching noise. This caused apprehension in Elsi, as she didn’t want to be heard by anyone suspicious.

            Though they stepped further and further away from the ice wall, the iciness of the trees did not dwindle. Every lone tree was covered in ice from the ground up to what all three of them supposed was the highest point of the wall.

            Mihoshi glanced at Elsi. She could tell that her best friend still thought this was a bad idea. But to Mihoshi, this was new. This was an adventure. She felt she was meant to be here; to uncover all of its secrets.

            Suddenly, a shout dispelled the quiet.

            “Look!”

            It had come from Leyka.

            Mihoshi approached where her sister was pointing. Then she gasped.

            “We have to get out of here,” she said.

            Elsi shook her head. What was with Mihoshi? One minute she was all over this, and now –

            But Elsi soon understood.

            A soldier, undoubtedly from the Fire Nation, stood very still in the snow. His armor was the same white color.

            “What is _he_ doing here?!” Elsi whispered. Her heart raced. Her village…it was under attack!

            “Wait,” Mihoshi said. “I think he’s frozen.”

            Elsi reached a finger out, slowly, and touched the armor. It was cold, and it didn’t even feel like metal. It felt like –

            “Snow,” she said.

            Leyka punched the soldier’s hand. It broke off and fell. She stepped on it and it turned into white powder.

            “It’s a statue made of snow!” Leyka gasped.

            “Wow,” Mihoshi said. “How did they build it? It looks so real…”

            Elsi turned. She saw, not far away, another soldier. This one looked like it was from the Earth Kingdom. Unlike the Fire Nation one, it had no helmet. Its hair and beard were showing, but it didn’t have a face.

            She shot a stream of fire at its arm, and it melted into water.

            “Look at this!” Mihoshi said.

            Elsi and Leyka followed her voice and found yet another white soldier. This one had a helmet shaped like a wolf, and through it they could see its lack of face.

            Mihoshi stuck her hand in the helmet.

            “They’re all snow,” she said with wonder in her voice.

            “Is this why this glade was cut off?” Elsi asked. “So someone could make a bunch of snowmen?”

            “Listen!” Mihoshi whispered.

            Elsi listened.

            Footsteps could be heard in the distance, but they were soft. Whoever it was, they weren’t crunching through the almost frozen ground like Elsi, Mihoshi and Leyka had been.

            They grew closer and closer.

            “Eeeeek!” Leyka screamed.

            Mihoshi and Elsi turned at once.

            Coming toward them were at least a dozen snow soldiers, some from every nation. They didn’t move like people. They moved, Mihoshi thought, like walking dolls.

            “S-someone’s bending the snow in them,” she stammered. “That’s why th-this was frozen. They w-want to hide their snow army!”

            Elsi stepped in front of Mihoshi and Leyka. She took a stance.

            The snowmen kept coming.

            “Get away from us!” Elsi shouted as she shot fire at two of the snowmen, melting them.

            The snowmen formed a circle around the three girls.

            “S-stop it!” Elsi yelled. She continued to melt as many snowmen as she could.

            A female voice laughed in response. It was coming from a far point.

            “You can’t do that forever!” the voice called.

            As Elsi watched, snow came up from the ground and formed itself into a new soldier.

            “I won’t let you harm them!” Elsi called back.

            “Mihoshiiii! Heeeelp!”

            Elsi stopped firebending. One of the soldiers had grabbed hold of Leyka.

            Mihoshi bent a large rock towards the soldier but stopped. She didn’t want to hit her sister.

            Elsi didn’t know what to do. She had to melt the snowman, but she couldn’t hit Leyka. And it would be hard not to; the snowman was moving away very quickly.

            Then more snowmen closed in on Elsi and Mihoshi, blocking Leyka from view.

            “No!” Mihoshi screamed, bending the rock through the snowmen.

            Suddenly, they all collapsed into piles of snow.

            Mihoshi darted her head in many directions.

            “ _Leyka_!” she screamed.

            But Leyka and the snowman carrying her had both vanished.


	5. Chapter 5

            “Mihoshiiii! Elsiiii!”

            Leyka still screamed and kicked at the surprisingly hard snow soldier. It was being bent so well that her kicks and flails did little to dislocate the snow, but she didn’t stop trying.

            Suddenly, the soldier stopped.

            Before Leyka could try to escape, it started moving again, but it wasn’t traveling the same path it had been. Leyka noticed that it been carrying her down a path marked by mean looking icicles jutting out of every tree and the ground. Now, it walked through a gap between icicle-covered trees and found a path that Leyka thought looked much friendlier.

            The trees here were not so covered in ice that they looked blue; she could see the wood and leaves through the ice. The menacing icicles were gone. Instead, intricate, smooth swirls of ice were attached to the branches and leaves, like works of art. It wasn’t as dark as it had been on the other path.

            On top of that, the snowman’s grip on Leyka was no longer harsh and restraining. It was carrying her carefully, like she was a baby.

            She turned. Up ahead, she saw an incredible sight: a fortress made entirely of light blue ice.

            As she was taken closer, she witnessed the main doors open and a girl, about Mihoshi’s or Elsi’s age, stepped out.

            Leyka’s mouth slowly fell open as she got nearer to the other girl, seeing her more clearly.

            The girl’s skin was light blue, and her long, straight hair was also blue, a shade darker than her skin. And her eyes were the same color as the glaring blue icicles she had seen earlier, yet they had an odd warmth to them that no icicle could bear.

            Her garmet was strange, too. She wore a blue frock the color of her hair adorned with white ruffles and pearls. It covered her whole body, but Leyka didn’t think it would protect her from the cold, even combined with the white gloves covering her arms.

            The blue girl raised her hands and lowered them. The snowman, as if responding, gently put Leyka on the ground. The girl then spread her arms outward, and the snowman dissolved into snow.

            “Who…are you?” Leyka asked.

* * *

           Though the lifeless warriors forged of snow had been able to move about, Elsi and Mihoshi now stood still as icy statues, looking into the distance with wide eyes.

            After a long silence, which may not have been long at all, Elsi finally spoke.

            “We have to find her,” she said.

            Mihoshi turned and looked at Elsi with sad eyes.

            “How?” she replied, her voice soft with emotion. “We couldn’t stop those…things…when they took her.”

            The sound of crunching footprints approached.

            Elsi spun towards the noise. “Who’s there?!” she demanded, igniting two flames within her hands.

            A voice sounded in the distance.

            “I…”

            Elsi lowered her hands.

            “Come closer so I can see you.”

            A girl, younger than Mihoshi or Elsi but notably older than Leyka, stepped into the clearing. Mihoshi put her hand up to her mouth to keep from gasping, and Elsi flinched. The girl had icy blue skin, hair and eyes. She wore a heavy blue coat adorned with white fur, two leather gloves, and a blue hat atop her hair, which was in two long braids.

            She giggled.

            “This is not how I really am.”

            “What’s your name?” Mihoshi asked.

            “I’m Ket-Ket,” the girl answered. “I used to live in the Northern Water tribe until…”

            “Until?” Elsi inquired, extinguishing her bending.

            Ket-Ket smirked.

            “I don’t think you would believe me if I told you.”

            “But you can help us find my sister?” Mihoshi asked.

            “Yep!” Ket-Ket said cheerfully. “I think I know where she is now. Follow me!”

            Ket-Ket started to walk back the way she had come.

            Elsi glanced at Mihoshi.

            “Do we trust her?”

            “She’s just a girl. I think we can believe what she says.”

            And firebender and earthbender followed the steps of the ice girl.


	6. Chapter 6

            The path that Ket-Ket led Mihoshi and Elsi through started out like an ordinary snowy path through a forest until they came to a fork on the road.

            On the left path, a dark blue fog covered almost everything. The trees were completely frozen, so much that the ice surrounding them looked blue. Jutting out of the trees and ground were many vicious icicles.

            Elsi eyed the path warily, and a look of fear came onto Mihoshi’s face. Her sister…had they taken her down there?

            “Oh, you don’t want to go _that_ way,” Ket-Ket said. “Come on, over here.”

            The older girls turned and saw Ket-Ket start down the other path, which they, with relief, also took.

            The snow was falling gently on this path, and the trees, while still frozen, were visible through the ice. The sky was bright on this part of the forest, and Mihoshi gazed in awe at the smooth icy swirls jutting out from tree branches. Whoever had made them was an artist, she thought. They want this place to look friendly, she thought.

            “Here we are!” Ket-Ket said with a smile.

            Elsi and Mihoshi gazed ahead. Standing before them was a fortress made entirely of ice. It was layered like a cake, with octogonal floors atop each other and balconies on each roof excepting the highest, which was topped with a pagoda roof.

            “Well, come in!” Ket-Ket said. “Your sister is probably waiting.”

            Mihoshi was the first to open the doors, which swung wide at the touch of her finger. She glanced back at Elsi, who stood still with a look of suspicion, and continued on.

            Everything was made of ice. There were ice scupltures of potted plants, ice fountains with ice shaped like running water inside them, and decorations that resembled frozen raindrops connected by string hanging from the ceiling. Right in front of her was a grand staircase to the second floor.

            She had barely taken all of its majesty in when a girl, who appeared to be made of ice like Ket-Ket, made her way down the staircase. The girl looked to be around her and Elsi’s age, and she wore ruffles and pearls. Mihoshi noticed that she wore gloves like Ket-Ket, only hers looked like satin.

            Elsi suddenly appeared, stepping up next to Mihoshi, as did Ket-Ket on her other side.

            “Ket-Ket,” the girl said in a somewhat serious voice. “Why have you brought them here?”

            “My sister,” Mihoshi interjected. “Ket-Ket says she was taken here.”

            The unknown girl descended the steps completely, looking Elsi and Mihoshi in the eye.

            Then the serious look on her face melted into a smile.

            “I am Aira,” the girl said.

            She turned to Mihoshi. “So your sister would be Leyka, yes?”

            “Yes!” Mihoshi cried. “Oh, please can we see her?”

            Aira turned toward the stairs.

            “Of course. Come with me.”

~

            The second floor room was much like that of the first floor, but on the third and highest floor, it was different.

            Several armchairs and rugs made of packed snow filled the place, and a fireplace made of ice stood on the corner, with an ice sculpture of a fire in it.

            In one of the armchairs sat Leyka with a cup of tea.

            “Mihoshi!” Leyka cried. “Elsi!”

            Leyka jumped off of the snow chair and ran toward her sister, catching her in a hug.

            Elsi turned to Aira.

            “So,” Elsi said, “you took her?!”

            Aira’s face fell.

            “I did not take her,” she said quietly. “I _saved_ her.”

            “Do you think I’m going to believe that?!” Elsi snapped.

            Aira stared Elsi down.

            “I rescued that little girl,” she said calmly. “If I hadn’t, she would have been…”

            Aira trailed off. It was clear she wanted to say something but didn’t know quite how to put it.

            “Would have been what?” Elsi demanded.

            “If I told you, you would not believe me,” Aira replied.

            “Leyka,” Mihoshi asked. “What did happen?”

            “The snowman…the soldier, he picked me up and took me here,” Leyka replied. “Then Aira came and turned him into snow and said I should stay here.”

            It sounded like a kidnapping to Elsi.

            “Leyka, come on,” Mihoshi said. “We’re going home.”

            But as Mihoshi turned to the door, a wall of ice appeared before it, blocking it. Elsi, Mihoshi and Leyka quickly looked at Aira, whose gloved hand was outstretched toward the ice wall.

            “You cannot leave!” Aira exclaimed. “None of you! Once you’ve been seen you are not safe, except with me!”

            A flame erupted in Elsi’s hand.

            “I heard you earlier,” she snarled. “I heard you call out to us as we fought your frozen soldiers.”

            “What?!” Aira gasped.

            “You told Mihoshi and I that we couldn’t keep fighting them,” Elsi continued.

            “I wasn’t even there!”

            Elsi’s flame evaporated. She kept her eyes on Aira, but her gaze softened.

            “Then who was that?”

            Aira’s face fell.

            “Someone with ice for a heart,” she replied. “What I told you is true. If you try to get out of here those warriors will come after you again. I should know...

            “I tried to escape the night before last, but my path was blocked. This part of the forest was sealed off to make sure I didn’t try again.”


	7. Chapter 7

            Elsi was leaning against the ice wall of the top room in Aira’s fort. Mihoshi paced nearby.

            The ice wall blocking the door to the descending staircase was gone, but both girls knew that Aira was guarding the main door. Elsi was exhausted; twice she had tried melting the door with her firebending and both times Aira had been repairing all the damage she did before she could slip out. Elsi had noticed that though Aira wasn’t hesitant about her icebending, she neglected to put her hands on Elsi. In fact, she seemed to be consciously not touching anyone other than Ket-Ket.

            “Do you believe her?” Elsi asked Mihoshi. “Aira, I mean.”

            “Yeah,” Mihoshi replied. “I don’t know why I wouldn’t.”

            Elsi shrugged.

            “I don’t believe her,” she said. “I mean, Leyka doesn’t seem to.”

            She was somewhat right. Leyka didn’t entirely trust Aira, but she didn’t know if she disbelieved her either. She did, however, trust Ket-Ket, who was currently exploring the fort with her.

            Elsi sighed.

            “Elsi, are you okay?” Mihoshi asked.

            “I want to go home,” Elsi admitted. “I hate that we’re trapped here.”

            “Me too,” Mihoshi said. She squeezed Elsi’s hand.

            Elsi squeezed back.

            “I’m glad you’re here, Mi’shi,” said Elsi. “You’re being here makes this whole thing bearable.”

            Mihoshi nodded.

            “I don’t know where I would be if you weren’t here, Els.”

            “I’m scared, Mi’shi,” Elsi continued. “I’ve flaunted my firebending in front of Aira and Ket-Ket, which means my secret’s out if they tell. And I’m scared for Leyka…I think Aira turned Ket-Ket into an ice person like her and will do the same to Leyka and us if we don’t get out of here.”

            Mihoshi said nothing of her suspicions that Aira wasn’t behind it. She knew her best friend needed a listening ear.

            After a silence, Mihoshi turned to Elsi.

            “I’m sorry, Els,” she said. “We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for me.”

            “What are you talking about?”

            “I’m the one who told you to open the ice barrier. If I hadn’t, we wouldn’t have ever encountered the snow warriors and Leyka wouldn’t have been taken, and we wouldn’t be here. Oh Elsi…I miss my home already. I miss Mom and Dad and Liu…Mom and Dad, Els! They must be so worried about me! And Leyka too! I want to go home to them, both of us, or at least somehow tell them we’re alright –”

            She was cut off by Elsi suddenly pulling her into an embrace.

            “Mi’shi…please,” Elsi said. “Don’t blame yourself. It’s Aira, or whoever made the snow warriors, that person did this. Besides, you didn’t open the barrier. I did.”

            Mihoshi sighed as her arms hugged Elsi.

            “I would get us out of here if I could, but these walls are too thick to melt, and Aira is at the door,” Elsi sighed. “Believe me, I want to go home too. Aunt Meimu must be scared to death about where I am.”

            Elsi looked at Mihoshi and gasped quietly. She had only just know realized how close they were. A moment after, Mihoshi came to the same realization and the two broke the embrace and stepped back, still staring at each other.

            As Elsi looked at Mihoshi, she felt as though she was seeing her for the first time. Mihoshi was beautiful and so, so kind. Her face was friendly and her expression was full of compassion. She reminded Elsi of a flower in spring. She was, in Elsi’s mind, perfect.

            And Mihoshi stared back at Elsi. All Mihoshi could think about was the glow of Elsi’s eyes and the warmth of her smile. And she was good and kind and brave, like the sun that never failed to rise. She was perfect to Mihoshi.

            Both girls felt memories come to the surface. Those days when Elsi and Mihoshi had run through the tall grass as children, played in the pond, and written songs. The day Mihoshi’s father had given her the liuqin and the joy she had shared with Elsi. The day Mihoshi had become a big sister and Elsi felt like she had too. Elsi creating spectacular light shows just for Mihoshi; the time when Elsi had accidentally burned a corner of her cat painting and Mihoshi had framed it anyway; when they had tried to get lost in the woods only to find that the old abandoned house belonged to Elsi and her aunt. All the games, songs, fire and snowball fights burned in their minds.

            That was the moment when Mihoshi knew she loved Elsi.

            She felt shocked – not that she loved her, but that she had loved her all her life and not known it. In the next moment, Elsi was taken aback by the knowledge that she loved Mihoshi, and had loved her ever since they were children.

            “Elsi…” Mihoshi said, “I…”

            And in that moment her lips touched Elsi’s, and the two of them sank into a kiss.


	8. Chapter 8

            Within the highest floor of an icy fort, a firebender and an earthbender stood facing each other, trembling.

            “So…th-that happened,” Elsi stammered quietly.

            Mihoshi broke into a smile.

            “Elsi…we kissed. You and me, Els.”

            “Mihoshi,” Elsi asked, “do you…you know…”

            Mihoshi once again threw her arms around Elsi.

            “I love you, Elsi,” she said. “I believe I’ve loved you ever since we met as children.”

            Elsi smiled as she returned Mihoshi’s embrace.

            “I love you too, Mi’shi,” Elsi said. A single tear formed in her right eye. This was possibly the happiest moment of her life thus far.

            Suddenly, a crash and bang sounded from two floors below. Mihoshi and Elsi broke apart, each with an expression of shock on her face.

            “What was that?!” Elsi cried.

            “Mihoshiiii! Elsiiii!”

            The two girls turned to see Leyka entering the third floor with Ket-Ket close behind her.

            “What’s going on?” Mihoshi asked, stepping toward her sister.

            “Someone broke in!” cried Leyka.

            “The snow warriors got in!” Ket-Ket said.

            Soon, Aira appeared, huffing up the stairs, her face wearing an expression of absolute panic.

            “They’re here,” she said, breathing heavily.

            Elsi felt as though she saw the older ice girl in a new light. No, she had never believed Aira’s story, not until now. The snow warriors appeared to be after her. But then, who was creating them if not Aira?

            “I can’t let them find her!” Aira cried out, frantically running to the frozen fireplace. “They’re coming. Elsi – it is Elsi, right? You’re a firebender, use that against them! Ket-Ket, do whatever you can! You two” – she looked at Mihoshi and Leyka – “just stay behind Ket-Ket and Elsi.”

            As Aira had predicted, two soldiers of snow made their way up the stairs, followed by seven more. Elsi blasted fire at the first two, melting them into puddles. She noticed that Ket-Ket seemed to be bending the ice furniture, breaking apart the frozen flowers and end tables. These she sent at the snow warriors. Punctured by the sharp ice, three soldiers collapsed into snow.

            But more were coming. Five more warriors filled the room, followed by four more. By now, Mihoshi and Leyka no longer heeded Aira’s command. With no earth to bend, Mihoshi relentlessly kicked and slapped at the soldiers, as did her sister. Between them, they were able to disable five soldiers, but Mihoshi, who wasn’t trained in fighting without earthbending, and Leyka, who wasn’t trained in fighting at all, were growing tired. Elsi and Ket-Ket kept going, but it was apparent that they were outnumbered.

            “No!” Aira screamed.

            The four girls turned. Two snow warriors were headed in Aira’s direction, hands outstretched to grab her.

            Mihoshi didn’t need to think twice: she ran at Aira, intent on pushing her out of the way – _bam_! She slammed against a wall of ice and slipped to the ground. When she looked up, she saw Aira had made the wall.

            “Aira – no!”

            Mihoshi could only watch as she pulled herself up. Leyka and Ket-Ket were trying to stop more from coming in, but they were obviously becoming exhausted. Elsi, however, was focused on the now four soldiers headed for Aira. She sent fireball after fireball at them but seven more headed for the ice girl. Within seconds, two of them had grabbed her by the arms and dragged her away from the fireplace.

            “Please…no…” Aira said softly.

            A crack appeared vertically down the fireplace, and then the whole thing shattered. Aira screamed in horror. All around them, every snow warrior save the ones holding Aira turned to snow and blew away.

            They all turned to see who had broken the fireplace, and they saw.

            A woman stood at the top of the steps. She wore a long gown of indigo with dark purple trim. Her black hair cascaded to her shoulders in thin, unbraided pigtails, and her dark purple eyes gleamed with contempt. In her right hand she held what looked like a giant blue snowflake.

            She walked with a pompous air to where the fireplace had been. Behind it was another room with three snow beds and a snow rug. Sitting on the rug, looking scared, was another ice girl. This one looked to be only eight years old with short hair that reached just above her shoulders.

            “Aira,” the dark haired woman said in a cold voice, “so that’s where you were hiding her.”

            Aira looked at the woman with frozen tears on her face.

            “Please,” she said, “don’t take Maya-Ar again.”

            Elsi glared at the woman.

            “Who are you?!” she demanded. “Why are you threatening Aira?!”

            “I,” said the woman, “am Kaligah. Kaligah of the Frozen Heart, queen of ice and snow. And how fortunate it is that I meet three more girls worthy of joining me today.”


	9. Chapter 9

            Elsi couldn’t believe her ears.

            “Join…you?!”

            Kaligah twirled the large snowflake in her hand.

            “No way,” Elsi said. “I have no interest in joining anyone who’s been threatening people.”

            Kaligah smirked.

            “You don’t know anything about these three, do you?” she sneered, indicating Aira, Ket-Ket and Maya-Ar.

            “Fine. What have you done?!”

            Kaligah held up the snowflake.

            “This, my dear, is the Frozen Heart. I designed it. It gives me the power to bend ice, and so much more. I can create warriors out of ice, as you have seen with my snow warriors. But that’s not all, no. I can make powerful weapons of icebending, all I need to do is find the right person.”

            The realization hit Elsi like a firework.

            “ _You_ turned these girls into ice?!”

            Then she stepped back, hit with another realization.

            _She’s going to do the same to us_ , Elsi thought. _Me and Mihoshi and Leyka…she’s going to turn us all into ice people!_

Thinking quickly, Elsi sent a stream of fire at Kaligah, but she countered with a thick wall of ice. The fire melted the ice, but Kaligah remained undeterred.

            “So she’s who you ‘saved’ Leyka from,” Mihoshi said to Aira. She then turned to Kaligah.

            “You wanted to capture my sister?!”

            Kaligah nodded.

            “But now,” she said, “I have three girls, not one. I was hoping you would follow.” She turned to Maya-Ar. “You are coming with me.”

            Quickly, Elsi stepped in front of Maya-Ar and sent a fire blast at Kaligah, which she once again blocked with ice. Then, Kaligah raised the Frozen Heart and pointed it at Elsi. A stream of ice started to flow from it –

            “ _No_!” Aira screamed.

            She stepped in front of Elsi. As the ice hit her, she stood headstrong and unharmed.

            Kaligah stopped. She turned her artifact towards Mihoshi –

            “ _Oh no you don’t_!” yelled Elsi.

            She sent a fire blast at Kaligah’s feet, knocking her to the ground.

            If Kaligah was dazed at all, she didn’t show it, as she got up right away. She sent a stream of ice at the fire, weakened from the surrounding cold, extinguishing it.

            “You are strong!” Kaligah gasped.

            Then she smirked again. She raised the Frozen Heart and to their horror, Elsi and the others witnessed many snow warriors reanimate.

            “Protect Maya-Ar!” Aira cried. She and Ket-Ket began bending shards of ice from the furniture at the snow warriors, breaking them up. Elsi melted many with her firebending.

            “Grab them!” Kaligah screamed, directing her snow warriors to do so.

            As she continued to generate fire, Elsi’s tired blasts grew weaker and weaker, and, horrified, she watched as a pack of snow warriors completely surrounded her, Aira and Ket-Ket, so that she couldn’t see anyone else in the room.

            In desperation, Elsi turned to Aira and Ket-Ket.

            “Get down!” she said.

            Then, Elsi took a deep breath in and spun, creating ribbons of fire that dissolved all the snow warriors surrounding them.

            “Wow, Elsi!” said Ket-Ket in awe.

            Elsi sighed and slumped. She had used up all of her strength.

            Aira looked over at the others. “ _No_!” she screamed.

            Quickly, Elsi turned and saw a horrible sight. Two snow warriors had hold of Mihoshi and Leyka, and two more were dragging little Maya-Ar away, down the stairs, with Kaligah following. The black-haired woman laughed coldly.

            “Aira, you have three days to make up your mind. If, by the third day, you have not offered to join me, the little girl dies.”

           And then she was gone, and gone too was Maya-Ar.

            Without Kaligah there, the snow warriors disappeared, leaving only innocent snowflakes.


	10. Chapter 10

            Even as the snow warriors vanished into piles of harmless snowflakes, the hearts of Elsi and Mihoshi were still racing. Maya-Ar had vanished from right under their noses, and they hadn’t been able to protect her. At least, Elsi thought, herself, Mihoshi and Leyka were still flesh and blood.

            Elsi approached Aira, who stood so still, one might’ve thought her to be an ice sculpture.

            “I’m sorry…” Aira said softly.

            Elsi reached out to touch Aira’s shoulder, but suddenly Aira took a quick step to the left.

            “D-don’t touch me!” she hissed.

            “I’m sorry,” Elsi replied.

            “I…can’t do it,” Aira said bitterly as frozen tears shattered at her feet. “I can never, ever…but Maya-Ar…”

            “Aira, we can save her!” Elsi said. “You and Ket-Ket are waterbenders, and Mihoshi is an earthbender, and I’m a firebender. The four of us can get her back, alive.”

            “We couldn’t even protect her!” Aira snapped. “Besides, Kaligah has hoards of snow warriors guarding her fortress. There’s no way we four could take down about a hundred of them.”

            “Those snowman things, though,” Mihoshi said. “They’re quick and many in number, but they’re still just snow. Which makes them absolutely defenseless against Elsi!”

            “I-I know,” Aira stammered. “But there are an entire army of them and only one of her.”

            She let more tears fall.

            “I wish I’d never left…”

            “Left?” Elsi asked. “Left where?”

            “Oh, you don’t know anything about me, really, do you?”

            Aira sighed and began to speak.

            “I look seventeen, but I’m actually much older, about thirty something, I don’t know, it’s been so many years. But the point is I haven’t aged since then because I’m an ice person.

            “I don’t know my family. I was brought up in an orphanage in Ba Sing Se. I had a few friends there, and some of the caretakers were kind to me, though others were not so much. Still, I wanted to find myself a real family, but no one ever cast me a glance. I was such a shy girl, sitting in corners and drawing things rather than talking to anyone, and so many families wanted some girl they could present to society as a fine lady, and I guess I didn’t fit.

            “Then, when I was seventeen, someone finally came. That someone was Kaligah. She seemed so nice and kind, and I was currently the only teenager there, and…she looked right at me and no one else. She said she wanted to be my new family, and I accepted…and then the nightmare started.

            “She took me far away to the north and once we were out of sight of any people, she pulled the Frozen Heart out of her luggage and waved it at me, turning me to ice. I was so scared, I thought the sun’s heat would melt me, but it didn’t, though it felt like I was on fire, which, honestly, would be better than this. Many years later we were wandering. Kaligah was looking to ‘recruit’ more people. That’s when I saw Maya-Ar.

            “That little girl had lost her family in a Fire Nation raid, and was being cared for by some Earth Kingdom soldiers. I felt so sorry for her. She was an orphan, like me. I knew I couldn’t touch her – everything I touch freezes – but I wanted to reach out to her. I was hiding in some trees, as Kaligah had ordered me to, but I stepped forward, and to my surprise, the snow warriors didn’t attack me.

            “Then, to my horror, the little girl’s body began turning to ice. I knew all I could do was to take her in. She told the soldiers she felt safe with me, and ever since then, I have thought of her as my own. But Kaligah has used that to her advantage: for awhile, she held Maya-Ar’s life over my head so I wouldn’t defy her. But I practiced my bending in secret until one day, I was able to control the snow warriors. I used them to protect myself and Maya-Ar as we went away, to another part of the forest, where I built my own fortress and kept us there. I kept trying to get away, but Kaligah always followed us to our new hideout and built a new ice fortress there. This time, I decided to get out myself and alert the Earth King to what was going on, with Maya-Ar safely hidden until I could save her. But Kaligah…well, you know the rest. That’s how you discovered this place.”

            “So, Ket-Ket,” Mihoshi said. “You’re older than you look too?”

            “Not me,” said Ket-Ket. “Kaligah went after a waterbender, so she saw my brother and tried to kidnap him, but I protected him and got taken instead. Kaligah was so furious she’d caught me, a non-bender, and when I defied her she did to me what she’d done to Aira. But Aira’s protected me since then. I haven’t been here nearly as long as her or Maya-Ar.”

            “But I don’t get it,” Elsi said. “What’s making ice people going to accomplish?”

            “Didn’t you hear what she ordered me to do?!” Aira hissed. “She wants us to lead an army of snow warriors with her and help her grab the Earth Kingdom throne.” She turned to Mihoshi. “She was going to make your sister the fourth snow person, but I took control of the snow warrior carrying her and brought her here.”

            Elsi lowered her head.

            “Oh, spirits,” she said softly. “You three used to be normal people, like us. I can’t believe she would do that to you, ugh.”

            “It’s not all bad,” said Ket-Ket. “I mean, I couldn’t bend at all before. Now I can bend ice. But to be honest, I would rather be back with my family.”

            “Is there any way to undo what Kaligah did?” Mihoshi asked.

            “I don’t know,” Aira replied. “I know if there was, I wouldn’t be able to bend ice anymore, but I don’t care about that. I want to see the sun, and the sky, and be free of Kaligah.”

            Mihoshi took hold of her sister’s hand.

            “I need to take Leyka home,” she said. “Mama and Papa will be worried about both of us, and it’s not safe here.”

            Aira turned to Ket-Ket.

            “Could you accompany them, please? Kaligah’s warriors are probably still about.”

            Ket-Ket nodded and followed Mihoshi and Leyka downstairs.

            “Aira,” Elsi said, “I promise that we will find Maya-Ar, alive and well. I’ll help you. And I’m really sorry I ever doubted you.”

            Aira smiled.

            “Thank you, Elsi,” she said. “You’re one of few people who has ever believed in me.”

           


	11. Chapter 11

            “What is your home like?” Ket-Ket asked Mihoshi as they walked towards the place where Elsi had blasted Kaligah’s ice, with Leyka beside them.

            “It’s in Midori Village, very close by,” Mihoshi said. “It’s a small house surrounded by trees and grass.”

            “Yeah, and we have a kitty!” Leyka added.

            Mihoshi smiled. She knew Liu would be happy to see her and Leyka return.

            Suddenly, someone jumped out from the left and landed in front of them. No, not someone – some _thing_. The snow warrior held the likeness of a broad, muscled Fire Nation warrior with a three-pointed helmet and huge snowy axe.

            “Get back!” shouted Ket-Ket.

            She narrowed her eyes and broke seven icicles off of tree branches. The icicles turned on their sides and lowered to her waist. Then, she sent them, one after another, straight at the brutish man of snow.

            “Look out!” Mihoshi screamed. Two more snowmen, more agile-looking than the one facing Ket-Ket, jumped down and tried to strike Mihoshi and Leyka, but Mihoshi was ready. She bent the soil out of the ground, making spikes of frosty earth that imprisoned and pierced the snow warriors, turning them into harmless heaps of snow.

            Ket-Ket’s icicles had caused her snow warrior to lose its legs, but it formed new ones out of the fresh snow.

            “Kaligah must be nearby,” she said. “And she’s putting them back together –”

            She stopped when she heard two voices squeal in horror. Ket-Ket quickly turned around and saw two new snow warriors holding the hands of Mihoshi and Leyka tightly behind their backs. Leyka kicked at the legs of the snowman holding her, but the powdery snow quickly reformed.

~

            Deeper in the forest, Elsi and Aira fared no better. They saw Kaligah in the distance, standing on a high hill, from which she commanded the warriors that had attacked their friends. With prowess, she spun around toward Elsi, creating hoards of new guards that Elsi kept blasting fire at.

            Just then, Elsi was struck with an idea.

            “Aira!” she yelled. “Get back!”

            Aira jumped away from Elsi and watched, amazed, as Elsi stopped blasting Kaligah’s minions and focused on the ground. She let a large stream of fire out and spun, just as Kaligah had, and the thick snow melted into a giant puddle. Now there was naught but mud and grass in between her and the mean-looking fort that belonged to Kaligah.

            “Aira!” Elsi shouted. “See if you can command some of these – things!”

            Aira began to bend the warriors while Elsi melted the ones blocking the door. Now she could properly see Kaligah’s ice fortress. It was layered like Aira’s, but each floor had spires of large icicles reaching up into the sky. It shone the brightest blue, giving off the feeling of ruthless, bone-chilling winter.

            “Let’s go!” Elsi said and ran for the doors.

            Then she stopped. Aira was not following.

            “Aira?”

            “Elsi, go! I have to hold Kaligah off!”

            Elsi gasped. The remaining snow warriors were jerking around in impossible movements for a human. She knew that this meant Aira and Kaligah were fighting for their control.

            “Hey Kaligah,” Elsi said, “I don’t need your snow!”

            And with that, she sent a fire blast to Kaligah’s location. Kaligah yelped and ran off before it could hit her. It didn’t need to – Kaligah had given up control over the snow warriors. Under Aira’s hands, they collapsed to the ground.

            “Thank you, Elsi,” Aira said.

            Elsi smiled.

            “You’re welcome. Now, let’s go find Maya-Ar!”

~

            The first place Kaligah ran to was her fortress. That girl had been trying to break in! Well, she wasn’t going to be unpunished.

            She jumped in through the window from a column of snow.

            “Finally I caught you,” she sneered at Leyka, who was being held there alongside Mihoshi and Ket-Ket.

            The evil icebender raised the Frozen Heart.

            “ _Oh no you don’t_!”

            Kaligah turned. Standing before her were Elsi and Aira.

            “You let them go right now!” Elsi demanded. “And release Maya-Ar!”


	12. Chapter 12

            “Elsi!” Mihoshi cried. “You came!”

            Elsi looked upon Mihoshi with horror. She, Leyka and Ket-Ket were tied to pillars with what looked like ropes, but they were made of ice.

            Aira looked frantically around the room.

            “Maya-Ar!” she squealed. “Where’s Maya-Ar?!”

            Kaligah smirked evilly as she collapsed a wall of ice. There sat Maya-Ar, imprisoned by frozen chains.

            “You cannot free her, or any of them,” she said to Aira. “I have a hold on them all.”

            She held up the Frozen Heart, with which she was maintaining the tightness of everyone’s bonds.

            “Aira may have to fight with your skills,” Elsi said with a smile, “but I do not!”

            And with that, she shot fire at the three pillars to which Mihoshi, Leyka and Ket-Ket were tied. They melted into puddles, taking with them the ropes and parts of the ceiling. Snow began to fall through the new gaps.

            Kaligah’s face contorted in rage as she grabbed Maya-Ar, holding the Frozen Heart close to that of the little girl.

            “Make one more move,” Kaligah snarled, “and she turns completely to ice!”

            The others stopped in their tracks.

            “If you want her to live, Aira,” Kaligah said, “you will do _exactly_ as I say. The firebender and earthbender are mine now, and so is the other girl. You will take them, and Ket-Ket, to be commanders of my army of snow, with which we will march and conquer Ba Sing Se!

            “I want each of you to create snow soldiers by the dozen! Failure to do so means your precious Maya-Ar will die! And all of you will create a snow shield to keep them strong!”

            As Kaligah continued to gleefully describe her grand plan, Aira noticed the pile of snow collecting where the pillars that Mihoshi, Leyka and Ket-Ket had been tied to had been. With minimal movements of her fingers, she guided the snow to fall closer and closer to Kaligah, until it reached the perfect spot to gather behind her.

            “And once the Earth Kingdom is ours,” Kaligah continued, “we will create more soldiers, more commanders, and take the Fire Nation! Even with their heat, they won’t be able to stop our numbers! Everything will become the empire of ice, the domain of Empress Kaligah!”

            But what Kaligah didn’t know was that at that moment, a tiny snow warrior was rising up behind her. It was the perfect likeness of Aira excepting its lack of a face. The snow Aira snuck around the corner of Kaligah’s gown and punched, sending the Frozen Heart flying.

            “ _No_!” Kaligah screamed, running to catch her one instrument of power.

            In that instant, Elsi made a leap for Maya-Ar, but Kaligah jumped in between them, the Frozen Heart clutched triumphantly in her hand. Quickly, Elsi sent streams of fire toward Maya-Ar’s shackles, but pieces of ice came out of the wall beyond them and hit every single fireball, turning both Elsi’s attack and itself into a puddle of water.

            “You cannot stop me!” Kaligah cried, cackling. “Even the entire Fire Nation will not stop me! How much do you think one little, flickering flame like you can do?”

            “How dare you speak to Elsi like that!” Mihoshi shouted. She dove for Kaligah, but was blocked by a snow warrior.

            “Attack!” cried Kaligah, forming new soldiers from the falling snow. “Get them!”

            Mihoshi, Aira, Ket-Ket and Leyka kicked, punched and bent the warriors, but more were coming, and Elsi found herself cornered by Kaligah’s figure.

            “Now I have you!” Kaligah triumphantly cried as she aimed the Frozen Heart at Elsi.

            Elsi smiled.

            “Finally happy to join me, are you?” Kaligah said coldly.

            “Never,” Elsi replied as a small fireball shot from her hand…landing right in the middle of the Frozen Heart.

            Of course, being made entirely of ice, it melted in the face of Elsi’s fire.

            “ _Nooooo_!” Kaligah screamed.

            Outside, the snow stopped falling and the sun began to rise.


	13. Chapter 13

            Through the gap in the ceiling of Kaligah’s fort, the rays of the rising sun peeked more and more.

            “I haven’t seen the sun in so long,” Aira sighed.

            As she stepped toward the sunlight, Elsi noticed a tear form in the corner of her eye. So did Mihoshi.

            “Aira,” Mihoshi said, “are you…crying?”

            More tears formed as Aira responded.

            “Yes. I’m so…happy.”

            Mihoshi’s face lit up at these words.

            “Elsi!” she gasped.

            Elsi smiled too, realizing, just like Mihoshi, that if everything Aira touched froze, there was no way she could shed tears. And if she was, and she wasn’t wincing in the sunlight she’d said caused her so much pain, that meant…

            “Our curse is broken!” Ket-Ket cried with joy.

            She pulled off her leather gloves and peered at her hands. Blue ice was receding from her fingertips, revealing brown skin. At the same time, ice disappeared from the top of Aira’s head, unmasking sleek black hair and pale skin. Weeping with joy, Aira too pulled off her gloves.

            In the same moment, a great crack echoed through the room. Everyone turned to see Maya-Ar, surrounded by smashed ice crystals that had been the chains imprisoning her. She was no longer an ice girl. Her hair was light brown and her skin was pale like Aira’s.

            “Aira!” Maya-Ar cried, running to Aira and leaping into her arms, which were now completely unfrozen.

            Elsi looked around her and saw piles of powdery snow everywhere.

            “The snow warriors are gone now too,” Mihoshi said.

            Suddenly, Mihoshi felt something wet hit the top of her head. She looked up and saw what looked like raindrops begin to fall from the room’s ceiling.

            “The fort is melting!” she cried. “We have to get out!”

            She grabbed Elsi’s hand and dashed down the stairs and out the door, followed closely by Leyka, Aira, Ket-Ket, Maya-Ar and Kaligah. As Kaligah stepped through the door, it turned to water. All of Kaligah’s icy creations had melted away.

            She stood still for a moment in the sunlight, then she ran off through the trees.

            Elsi and Mihoshi moved to stop her, but Aira held them back.

            “There’s no need,” she said, smiling. “She has no power now.”

            “But Aira – ” Elsi began.

            “Elsi, her bending’s gone.”

            “But what if she comes back? You said she made that ice thing _herself_. She could make it again!”

            “That was long ago,” Aira replied. “She made it in the Northern Water Tribe, with the help of their research. Since then, the Northern Tribe has carefully guarded itself with the Fire Nation spreading across the Earth Kingdom. Plus, they know her face, since she kidnapped Ket-Ket. There’s no way they would let her back in now.”

            “Then where did she go?” Mihoshi asked.

            “Who knows?” said Aira. “Wherever it is, she is powerless without her snow army.”

            “Then she better not come after us again,” said Elsi. “Because I’ll be waiting.”

            “Me too,” Mihoshi agreed.

            “And me,” Aira smiled.

            “What are you going to do now, Aira?” asked Mihoshi.

            “There was nothing in my home city for me,” she said. “I won’t be going back there. But there is something for me here. Four somethings.”

            She wrapped her unfrozen arms around Elsi, Mihoshi, Leyka and Maya-Ar.

            “I’m going to stay in Midori Village with Maya-Ar.”

            “What about you, Ket-Ket?” Mihoshi asked.

            “I’m going back to the Northern Tribe,” replied Ket-Ket. “I have a family there and I’ve wanted to see them again so badly.”

~

            The six of them continued to walk until they reached the entrance of what had been Kaligah’s domain. The ice that had formed a wall between each tree was gone, and gone too was the cluster of branches and briars that had been frozen in place as a barrier. The twigs were now scattered around, some of them charred from Elsi’s firebending, which had also melted the snow in that place. A patch of fresh green grass shone brightly under the morning sun.

            On the other side of it, Midori Village awaited.

            Hand in hand, the six girls stepped through the patch of spring among winter and bid farewell to the cold they had escaped. Each of them took a step toward home.


	14. Chapter 14

            In a village called Midori in the middle of a forest, joyous shouts could be heard.

            Han, Maya and Meimu could not contain their happiness. After having disappeared for an entire day and night, Elsi, Mihoshi and Leyka had returned.

            And they were not alone.

            “Mi’shi,” Maya asked, “who are these girls?”

            Aira stepped forward.

            “I am Aira,” she replied. “This is Ket-Ket and Maya-Ar. We came from the forest.”

            “The forest?” Meimu said curiously.

            “Allow me to explain,” Elsi said. “It all started when I discovered a strange freeze around a part of the forest. We—Mihoshi and Leyka and I—went through it. That’s where we found them.”

            Soon, the whole tale flowed out. The snow warriors, Leyka’s kidnapping, Aira, Kaligah, Elsi’s and Mihoshi’s love for one another, and finally, how Elsi had saved them all.

            When they heard about Elsi’s and Mihoshi’s kiss and their declarations of love, Han, Maya and Meimu all smiled knowingly.

            “I knew you thought there was something special about her, Els,” Meimu said smiling.

            “Then…you all approve?” asked Mihoshi.

            “We couldn’t have asked for a better match,” said Han.

            “You will definitely make each other happy,” Maya said.

            “Mihoshi is wonderful, Els. You’re a very lucky girl,” said Meimu as she patted Elsi’s shoulder.

            Leyka smiled, too. Elsi had always been like another sister to her.

~

            That night, all nine of them sat around a campfire, courtesy of Elsi.

            “So you and Maya-Ar will be living here, correct?” Han asked Aira.

            “Indeed,” she replied. “But Ket-Ket won’t be.”

            “Oh, right,” said Meimu. “You’re going back to the Northern Water Tribe.”

            Ket-Ket nodded.

            “I will be so happy to see them all again,” she said. “Mama, Papa, Kalak, Riki and Nila.”

            She shed a single tear as she thought of her family. She hadn’t seen them in so long.

~

            The very next day, Ket-Ket left Midori Village and journeyed to the coast, where she found Kaligah’s ship, thankfully no longer occupied by Kaligah. Accompanying her was a sailor found by Han and Maya, who agreed to take Ket-Ket home. As she set course for the north pole, Ket-Ket gazed across the sea. _Please_ , she thought, _please wait for me just a little longer_ …

~

            Over the next few weeks, Aira and Maya-Ar settled into the simple, free lifestyle of Midori Village. They often spent time playing in the fields with Elsi, Mihoshi and Leyka, and were always welcome at their homes. Soon, the foundations of a lasting friendship were laid between Leyka and Maya-Ar. There was almost nowhere one went that the other didn’t accompany her.

            On a certain day, a girl said her goodbyes to a sailor and set foot onto the shores of the icy north pole. She broke into a run, heading straight for her family home. There they were, and the first to notice the girl were two twin eleven-year-old girls, who sprinted out of the house.

            “KET-KET!” they both screamed as they threw their arms around her, never intending to let go.

            “Riki!” Ket-Ket cried. “Nila!”

            “…Ket-Ket?”

            A woman peered out of the doorway.

            “Marak!” she screamed with joy. “Kalak! You’ll never believe it! Ket-Ket’s back!”

            The woman made a beeline for Ket-Ket and hugged her tight. She was never going to let her daughter go again, much like Ket-Ket’s sisters.

            Following her were a man and a boy of sixteen. They, too, threw their arms around Ket-Ket. Even in the harsh frozen north, the entire family shed warm tears of joy.

            At last they all broke apart. Marak, Ket-Ket’s father, continued to sob as he hugged her again.

            “Kitty-Ket,” he said through tears, “where have you been all this time?”

            “Would you believe me if I told you?” Ket-Ket replied.

            “I would,” said her mother, Kina.

            “Then I will tell you. It’s a tale of fire, song and a snowstorm…”

            THE END


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